Fast-forwarding to what will take place in only a few hours, Jesus enters the special Upper Room where His apostles are waiting for Him to initiate their Passover seder together. Mark, the teenage son of the homeowner, escorts Jesus into the room. The apostles rise and greet Him respectfully. Jesus thanks Mark and tells him to go down and enjoy the seder meal with his parents. Mark asks, "Are You sure? I'm here to serve." Jesus pats his arm appreciatively and says, "I'll handle it."
The Lord stuns His closest followers by the service He promptly undertakes: washing their dusty feet before their meal (John 13). As He removes His sandals, He tells them, "This will be a night to remember. After we eat together, we will go to Gethsemane, where we will spend time in prayer and reflection." Judas makes a mental note of that since he was paid to reveal Jesus's location in a private area that night to His enemies.
Before all that," Jesus chuckles, wrapping a towel around His waist, "let us enjoy this beautiful table Peter and John have prepared for us and begin the remembrance." When He picks up a large basin with a pitcher inside, John says in a faltering voice, "Rabbi, that boy Mark said a servant would be up shortly to help with washing our feet." Honest Nathanael observes, "Yes, some of us are still pretty filthy from the walk." When Jesus makes it clear He intends to handle that need, the others protest, but He says, "Please, sit. Each of you."
The objections continue as His disciples remain standing. He gently interrups them, saying, "My friends, My friends, tonight is our last meal together. Will you just please do as I say and not object, for once? After a moment of silence, Big James turns around and sits on his stool, his feet facing away from the table. Jesus thanks Big James and begins with him. The others follow James's example, except Peter. Big James thanks Jesus softly when the job is done.
Thomas is next and then Little James, who asks humbly, "Are You sure?" Jesus assures him kindly that He is and cites this verse as He works: "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, publishing peace and proclaiming salvation" (Isaiah 52:7). When Jesus finishes, He kisses one of James's feet. Judas looks conflicted watching all this. He moves to protest again, but Jesus simply says, "It is your turn."
When that job is done, Peter says, "My turn. Please sit." He, like Jesus, is covered with a towel and has his own bowl and pitcher. Jesus says, "Peter—" but Peter quickly interrupts, saying, "This makes no sense." Jesus explains, "What I am doing, you don't understand now, but afterward you will." Peter asserts, "Master, we should have done this ourselves, and we're sorry for our pride, but you will never wash my feet."
Andrew rises, saying softly, "Brother, just do what He says." Jesus says to them all, His eyes landing on Peter: "Listen carefully: No more of this. Moving forward, you need to trust Me more than ever, even if you have no understanding yet. I mean this: If I do not wash you, you have no share with Me. You cannot be part of what I am doing." After several moments of silence, Peter kneels and says, "In that case, Lord, wash not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" Jesus chuckles, Nathanael unsuccessfully tries to stifle a snicker, and Andrew plops down in his seat.
Jesus quips, "Sometimes Peter is still Simon." Then he asks Peter if he bathed this morning. Upon learning he did, Jesus tells him, "Then only your feet need to be washed now, and that will be enough." As Peter gets in position for the job to be done, Jesus says, "You all understand I'm not talking about literal cleanliness, right? I'm setting you an example. You call Me Teacher and Lord, and rightly so. If then I your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, then you also should wash one anothers' feet. When you go out into the world to spread My message, this is how you are to lead: As servants, with humility. You will set aside any pride or ego in order to love and serve others, friends and enemies alike. Even tonight."
Back in real time to that morning, Mark is working hard in the large Upper Room of a house, currently laying a long tablecloth. His father comes in asking, "What is all this?" Mark answers, "I'm almost finished. One moment: I don't want to forget." "Forget what? Why are you setting this table?" his father wants to know. Mark replies, "My vision: It needs to match my vision. Do you remember 3 years ago when I told you Adonai gave me a dream about this house here in Jerusalem when we were living in Bethany?" "Yes," says his father, "I chose this house when we decided to move because it matched your dream."
Mark tells him: "I had another dream last night. It was just as clear and I knew just as much that it was from Adonai. I saw 3 things. This room, with the table set just like this. I also saw you: Two young men are talking to you and one said very clearly, 'Our Teacher's time is at hand.'" His father wants to know what that means. Mark does not yet know. Then he adds: "I also saw me at the well, carrying a jar." His father says that doesn't make sense: "Your eema is the one who goes to the well. She is going later today." Mark reminds him he is just telling him what he saw.
The father changes the subject by telling him he wants to stop by Solomon's Porch to see if there is more preaching today. As they walk outside, the father notices graffiti written on their house proclaiming, "Jesus is Messiah." Dad says, "Oh, no: Our home has been vandalized!" Mark says, "But I believe it! Don't you?" Dad says in a panic, "It doesn't matter what we think. This kind of thing will get our entire family in trouble! If it said, 'King,' the Romans would have broken our doors down." Mark says excitedly, "If He is the Messiah, then He's King of everything!"
Dad orders in a hushed tone, "Do not speak those words out loud, especially out here." Mark, in a similar tone, reminds him, "You said yourself you've been lately plagued in your heart and in your sleep by—" His father cuts him off and hands him a water jar, saying, "I'll get some soap. Your eema is at the market. Go get some water to wash this off." Mark glances down at the water jar now in his hands, smiling. His father notices that smile and is not surprised when Mark says, "Happy to." Mark quickly runs off on his errand. His father looks on in wonder, remembering Mark's new vision.
In another part of town, Big James is finishing something to drink at a table and notices Kafni's chief henchman, Amnon, keeping an eye on him. James pays for his drink and leaves. Amnon does a poor job of following him. Soon James passes Kafni as well. He wades into a crowd where Peter is preaching, "Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning. Be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast so they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them! You must also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Stay awake!" (Luke 12:35-40).
That last part Peter says loudly because Big James by this point is dragging him away. Peter asks him, "What's so important? Was I that bad? It's my fifth sermon today—I've been at it since dawn. People have been eating it up!" James tells him, "That man over there is with Kafni, who's here somewhere. He's either not good at hiding or didn't think I'd remember who he is." Amnon signals to a Roman soldier and starts telling him something in a confidential manor. "They're working with the Romans?" James says with suprise. "This is bad," admits Peter.
They quickly slip away to Phoebe's house to join the other apostles, whom they find rearranging furniture in an attempt to make room for a triclinium table big enough to seat them all for the Passover seder that night. James objects, "We can't have Passover here. This is a Gentile house. There are pagan myth statues here. We don't know where to look for the leaven." John asks, "What do you propose we do?" They decide to ask Jesus.
Peter says to Him, "Master, we don't want to interrupt or bother You—just a quick question." Jesus tells him, "I'm not bothered. It's good to see you, Peter. I hear you have been preaching! I'm glad to hear it." John asks Him, "Did You want me to start preaching too?" "Oh, you will, in time," Jesus tells him. "Is that what you came to ask?" "No," Peter says. "Passover begins tonight." Jesus pretends not to know it and Big James falls for that kind of thing "every time," as Jesus tells him with a smile.
John continues, "Phoebe's house is large, but it's not exactly seder friendly." Jesus says, "We'll do it somewhere else." John asks where. "Peter, John, go to the southern portion of the Upper City," Jesus instructs them. "A young man carrying a jar of water will meet you." "A young man?" inquires Peter. "I know it's usually women carrying water. That's how you'll be able to spot him. Follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "My time is at hand. Where may I eat the Passover with My disciples?"' He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready, prepared for us (Mark 14:12-16). Does that answer your question?" John replies, "Yes, it does. In a surprisingly detailed way." Jesus says, "If it sounds strange in the moment, trust Me: All these things will make sense in time."
Peter says to Jesus, "We believe You." They leave Him to have time alone and pray. Big James orders Thaddaeus to go with Peter and John. To the others he gives the welcome news that they no longer need to clean and rearrange furniture for a table that won't fit. Nathanael wonders out loud if Phoebe ever had dinner parties. Big James gets straight to the point: "Ramah's father, Kafni, has men tracking us, and they're in league with Roman soldiers. Peter and John have gone to secure a place for the seder. When the time comes, we cannot be seen as a group traveling to that location. Everyone will need to leave in staggered intervals, taking misleading routes. When Thaddaeus comes back with the exact location, we will make a plan."
Philip observes, "Someone will have to tell Judas." Big James asks where he is. Matthew says disapprovingly, "He went out." "Out?" inquires James. "Am I my brother's keeper?" quips Nathanael. Thomas teases him for quoting bad brother Cain instead of good brother Abel (Genesis 4). "It's just what came to my mind," explains Nathanael. "What a mind," says his longtime friend Philip. Big James, in no joking mood, says impatiently, "Just explain the plan to him when he gets back."
Judas is walking by himself on a crowded Jerusalem street. He hears someone call out his name loudly. It is his sister, Dvorah. She embraces him warmly, telling him, "I've been looking everywhere for you! Raif and I and the girls were singing with the palms when you walked into town behind Jesus, but the crowds were so big, I couldn't reach you." Judas asks, "You were waving palms?" "Everyone was," says Dvorah. "Judas, you were right. For once in your life, you were so right, and I can't believe I doubted you. He's really the One. He's the Messiah, and you're following Him. I'll never live down trying to dissuade you."
Judas, looking conflicted, responds, "Well, you were just being my big sister, and I've been wrong about things before." Dvorah says with joy, "Nothing will be wrong ever again. He's here. Judas, I'm so proud of you. Abba and eema would be so proud of you. If only they could see this day." She gives her brother a hug and a kiss, breaking away to ask, "Tonight is the seder. Do you have a place to—?" Judas says quickly, "With Him, of course. I'm not supposed to say where." Dvorah says she understands He must be kept safe for the big moment, asking, "Do you know when it will happen? It must be soon, right? It has to be!"
Judas says, "Dvorah, I've learned this thing about the word soon. It's not—" She surprises him by interrupting and saying, "No, I'm onto you." Judas, looking stunned since he accepted money a few hours ago to betray Jesus, asks her what she means. Dvorah replies, "I can tell when you're hiding something. You know when it will it will be!" Judas, recovering quickly, says, "I do, of course, but I can't say." She says, "It has to be tonight, right? I mean, it would fulfill all the prophecies on the night of the Passover?
Trying to feign excitement but not succeeding, Judas manages to say, "My lips are sealed." Dvorah says in a more subdued tone, "Then I'll just wait, and watch, and see." Judas, at a loss for words, says, "Yeah ... listen, I've got to get going." Dvorah perks up, saying, "Oh, yes—yes you do!" She grasps his shoulders and proclaims, "All your life has led to this moment. I'm so excited, I don't know how I'll sleep tonight!" Judas shakes his head and looks down with a pained expression, saying, "I ... I don't know either." Dvorah notices and tells him, "Judas, you look worried." He says in a loud voice, "Me? No, no, no. I'm all right. There's just a lot happening."
She accepts that explanation, saying, "Go. Do what you have to do." Judas tells her with determination, "I will. I must." Dvorah happily repeats, "You must," giving him a final embrace. Judas has a guilty look on his face. "I love you, brother," she adds. "You were right: The name Iscariot won't be forgotten." Judas responds, almost in a daze, "I've really done it. Or I'm really going to do it." He kisses his big sister's cheek, tells her he loves her, and repeats that he has to go. She says, "Go, go!" looking on him proudly as he leaves.
Peter, John, and Thaddaeus are approaching where Jesus sent them. John, noticing women carrying full water jugs, asks one to point toward the nearest well in that part of the city. She tells him it is just around the corner. As soon as the well comes into view, they see a young man taking his turn filling his jug. A line of women nearby are awaiting their turns.
They realize he has to be the one Jesus told them about and decide to follow him home since the Lord said to speak to the owner of the house. Mark is smiling as he walks, maybe resisting the temptation to look behind him. His father takes the water jug from his hands when he arrives, setting it down near the graffiti and telling Mark to scrub it all off. John, from across the street, reads the graffiti: "Jesus Is Messiah." He says that must be the house, but changes his mind when Mark begins scrubbing off the message.
Peter says there's only one way to find out and begins moving forward, but John says, "We don't know what kind of enemies they might be!" Peter points out, "We followed a man with a jar." Thaddaeus adds, "And there's the master of the house." Peter, confident in the Lord's instructions, tells Thaddaeus to go back to the others to tell them where it is, which he eagerly does.
Peter, with John reluctantly following, approaches Mark's father and says, "Shalom. Are you the master of this house?" He answers, "Yes, but I had nothing to do with this and we are cleaning it off." Peter tells him, "We have a message from the person whose name is written on your house." Mark is now looking at him and John, smiling. His father says incredulously, "Jesus has a question for me?" Peter continues, "The Teacher asks, 'My time is at hand. Where is My guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?'" Mark tells his father, "Abba, those are the men from last night!" The four look at one another in stunned amazement, and then gaze toward the Upper Room.
Later, Peter and John are putting finishing touches on their Passover preparations in that room that so perfectly suits their needs. John chuckles and says, "I'm having a moment. Think of where we started, Peter. Feels like yesterday and a lifetime ago—at the same time. You and I, up all night on our fishing boats together, before we encountered the Creator of the universe." Peter agrees that meeting Jesus worked out nicely for both of them. John continues with awe, "And now we are preparing the seder meal in the Holy City, soon to be joined by 10 brothers, and we'll be led by the Christ Himself, who just so happens to be our Rabbi."
Mark, helping them prepare in the background, asks nervously, "Do you think this bread will be good enough for Him?" He quickly adds, "You should know the house is completely cleaned of any leaven. I checked again." Peter tells him kindly, "Listen, friend: The Son of God told us specifically to follow you and come here. You're good." Mark says with enthusiasm, "My dream was so clear. This is what I saw. I just can't believe it's for Him!" John says, "Yes, it's very exciting." Mark's father, entering and overhearing, says to Peter and John with concern, "And you will keep it in this room? Each of you? I beg discretion of you." Peter reassures him, "No one wants this more discreet than we do." The father says he doubts that as he heads downstairs.
The preparations are almost complete. Mark leaves to get something more. Peter says to John, "Yeah, it is quite a thing." John, assuming he is referring to Mark, states in wonder, "God gave him a vision." But Peter is thinking about what John said earlier: "We're preparing a seder meal for the Christ." John combines that with Mark's vision and his father's willingness to host even though he is so obviously paranoid, concluding, "This is for sure led by Adonai, so clearly prescribed by Jesus."
Peter asks him, "So why aren't you smiling?" John says he's wondering the same thing, telling him he feels like he is starting to understand Jesus more, which is drawing them closer, but is wondering why He has arranged all this tonight. Peter replies, "Yes, but we set the table anyway." "I do understand this," says John: "He is sad." Peter places a reassuring arm on John's shoulder. Mark comes back with bowls of grapes.
The other disciples have now initiated their plan to arrive at the Upper Room in staggered intervals. Simon "Zee," the former Zealot, is traveling through the city by himself. As he passes by a butcher's shop, he sees a slow-moving trail of animal blood from the back that triggers a memory from his Zealot days. Zee and two young Zealots are trapped in a small structure surrounded by enemies trying to break down the double doors. After instructing them to barricade the doors, Zee tells the young men to search for a back exit. One valiantly crys out over the noise of the doors near to being broken: "No, we're not going down like that. We swore an oath to the Order!" Their adversaries outside shout, "Zealot vermin, we know you're in there. Open the door!" All three Zealots know the doors won't hold under the incessant pounding. The other young man says, "We will fight or die like martyrs, like our brethren before us!"
Simon pulls out his sicari dagger and orders, "Go out the back. I'll fight them alone." The first man protests, "But our mission is not yet done!" Simon tells him, "Micah, you have many more missions to complete. Save yourselves so you can carry them out and continue the work of the Fourth Philosophy. We need men like you. Go!" The second man tells him, "We will sing songs about your valor." They both obey Simon, dropping their barricade and running out back.
Simon crouches with his dagger, ready to pounce on his enemies when they break down the door. He tries to prepare himself internally, saying, "I'm ready to meet God," and breathes heavily, but soon his breathing is all he hears. Where have his enemies suddenly gone? He slowly creeps toward a small lattice window, but does not see them. In a crouch step Simon cautiously makes his way to the back door and kicks it open. On the ground nearby are the dead bodies of the two young men, blood slowly pooling from their wounds. Simon sobs and beats his breast. His mind returning to the present, Simon Zee stares once more at the blood behind the butcher shop before moving on to celebrate the Passover as an apostle of Jesus the Christ, the long-awaited Messiah.
On another side street, Nathanael is walking steadily on when he notices a woman vendor describing to her prospective client a fine instrument of great resonance composed of seven strings, pure bronze pegs, and turtle shell from Greece. As she strums the strings, Nathanael is transported in his mind to when he was an architecture student studying feverishly at school for an exam. He and his fellow students are working at their desks, but when Nathanael reaches a hard point and breaks his writing quill, he loses patience and sweeps his parchments aside.
Nathanael sinks his head onto his folded arms. After rocking his head a few times, he hears a woman singing in the distance and playing a stringed instrument. The lyrics are from Psalm 130: "Out of the depths I cry to You: Hear my voice, O Lord. Let your ears be drawn to my pleas for mercy, O Lord." By the time the singer repeats those verses, Nathanael has risen from his desk and followed her voice to a window at his school. He sees her sitting on steps of what looks like a large synagogue. Nathanael bows his head in sorrowful, but grateful contemplation.
His teacher notices him by the window and asks, "Aren't you supposed to be studying for your test?" Nathanael says, "I have been, sir. Sorry: I was just taking a break." The teacher accepts that explanation and hands him a letter that arrived for him that day. Nathanael thanks him and returns to his desk to read the letter, which says, "My friend, as you are no doubt at this very moment buried in academic proofs and the life's work of others, our God is doing for you what all the studying in the world could not: Making you a friend I miss greatly, a testament to the heights men can reach, and a unique pain as a companion." That last parts elicts a few chuckles.
Nathanael keeps reading, "John [the Baptizer] says we are making the way straight and wide. It is glorious, but do not wish you were here—not yet. Study hard. Your time to help build this road will come. Shalom, shalom." The letter is from Philip, who introduced Nathanael to Christ, who in turn called Nathanael to be one of His apostles (John 1:43-51). Nathanael returns to the present in his thinking, gazing in awe at the architecture of the temple as he walks to meet Philip and the other apostles at their Passover meal with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Close to the same time, Philip himself is on the way toward that Passover seder, accompanied by Andrew. They are forced to press against a wall before Roman soldiers shouting out, "Clear the way! Everybody move to the side: King Herod's carriage is coming by. Move—make straight the way!" That reminds Philip and Andrew of when they were traveling and ministering with John the Baptizer before they met Jesus.
They look at one another, sharing a smile and remembering a dusty walk with John and several of his disciples, including their friend Avner. Ahead, Roman soldiers are burning trees and using horses to clear brush. Their leader shouts, "For the last time, I need these roads as wide as possible!" He harshly tells people to move out of the way. John, in turn, shouts at him, saying, "You! What right have you to deface this sacred land, uprooting our trees and displacing Jewish citizens?"
The officer tells him, "We're making way for the entourage of a very important person coming to town, not that we owe you an explanation." John says, "I'll tell you about a very important person coming to town." Philip chimes in, "Oh, yes he will!" The Roman officer states, "If this is about another one of your prophets, I don't want to hear about it." Philip says, "He didn't ask if you wanted to hear about it. He is 'the voice of the one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord. Make His paths straight'" (Isaiah 40). The officer, amused, says, "I'm the voice of one telling you we're making a path straight for someone real, not from your imagination."
Philip counters, "This is beyond your imagination." John tells the Roman, "I would advise you to be vigilent and humble because He who is coming is mightier than I. I'm not even worthy to untie the strap of His sandals." Losing patience, the officer tells him, "I'm mightier than you. Move your group out of here." As John and his disciples pass him by, looking at the burned tree roots, the Baptizer loudly proclaims, "Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees. Every good tree that does not bear good fruit is struck down and thrown into the fire."
The Roman officer calls out, "Do you know why people don't listen to freaks like you? Because you deal in riddles!" John stops and looks at him, saying forcefully, "I came to bear witness about the coming light to my own people, the House of Israel, but to you I would say do not extort money from anyone, through threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages" (Luke 3). The officer says mockingly to his men, "You hear that? Be content with your wages." (That cynical officer had the privilege of having his mind changed about prophets when he later met Jesus after compelling Him and His disciples to carry his soldiers' gear one mile, but Jesus and the others voluntarily carried it for two.)
As John the Baptizer and his disciples continue walking, Andrew wearily asks Avner, "How much longer do you guys go?" He is concerned about getting back in time to help his brother fish and try to ease their tax debt. Avner asserts, "Taxes are a man-made construct, built from the mutually agreed-upon fallacy that gold has any eternal value." Andrew says, "I like that." (Whether Jesus would is another matter, but this is before any of them met Jesus.)
Andrew is glad to hear from Avner they won't be going on much longer. Philip has something more important on his mind, citing what John just said: "'Even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees': Do you know what that means? It means the Messiah is here, near, somewhere in Israel around us, waiting to inaugurate His ministry!" Avner shares his enthusiasm, but Andrew deadpans, "Does this Kingdom include food?" "It includes feasts," says Philip. "How soon?" asks Andrew. "I'm so hungry, I can't think straight." Philip tells him, "Why didn't you say something? We have plenty of food." Andrew scoffs, "Then why is everyone around here as gaunt as a mongoose?" Philip continues enticingly, "Not just any food: Delicacies—fried in olive oil, then dried, simmered with a bit of wild honey. Andrew, I give to you Candied Locusts" (Mark 1). Philip and Avner each take one gleefully, touching them in a toasting gesture before devouring them.
Andrew stares increduously, but when his mind returns to the present, both he and Philip are smiling at that memory. After Herod's entourage moves on, they return to walking side by side to the feast they will soon share with the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Thomas is walking toward that feast by himself. He witnesses a minor accident when a woman bumps into the cart of a lamp vendor. Several of his little clay oil lamps smash onto the ground. She humbly apologizes and helps pick up the pieces. The vendor is at first irritated, but soon is gracious. Thomas, watching this scene unfold, recalls a vivid moment from his teenage life.
It is early and he is sleepily seated at the breakfast table. His parents enter the room, looking deeply troubled. His father, Jedidiah, addresses him, first making sure he is awake enough to pay close attention to something serious that happened last night, explaining: "I went with your uncles, Didyus and Judas, to retrieve the money we were owed for the heifer we sold to Tolomai and his sons. There was an argument. Tolomai was abusive to Didyus. His sons had weapons. Judas was hurt, but not seriously. I will have to answer many questions. I stopped your uncles from being hurt. Do you understand, Thomas? I may not see you for a while, but I love you."
He repeats that last part as three Roman soldiers come barging in. Thomas's mother screams. One soldier restrains Thomas while the others roughly bind his father, who urges Thomas, "Take care of your eema!" The soldiers ask no questions or offer any explanation. They bark out harsh commands: "Don't move! Get up, Jew! Go, go!" As they move out rapidly through the front door, a small clay oil lamp falls to the ground and smashes. Thomas stares at the pieces as he embraces his weeping mother. In the present, Thomas is still staring at the pieces of the fallen lamps from the vendor's cart. He redirects his gaze toward where he will be celebrating the Passover with Jesus and his fellow apostles, perhaps wondering gloomily if that will put him in a better or worse frame of mind.
Matthew, the former tax collector, is heading toward the same destination as Thomas and the others. He asks pardon as he moves through lines of people. When done he glances back to see what they were lining up for. Dismayed, he sees multiple tax booths with unhappy Jewish citizens awaiting their turns to pay their taxes. One citizen at a booth is so upset, he spits on a fellow Jew serving the Romans as a tax collector. The soldier guarding his booth takes no notice.
That reminds Matthew of his first day on the job as a tax collector in Capernaum. A disgruntled Jewish citizen spat on his face and called him a traitor. That would be distressing for anyone to experience, but for Matthew it was agonizing because of his fastidiousness. He calls out, "Soldier, are you just going to stand there and do nothing?" The soldier informs him, "We only intervene if weapons get involved or someone causes disruption." Matthew says, "This is distruptive: I need to go home and wash!" The soldier, Gaius, turns around and says firmly, "No! You can't even make it through your first day on the job," he adds disdainfully. "People are waiting for you to fall."
Matthew objects, "You are unlikely to find five willing, qualified candidates in all Capernaum." "Probably true," concedes Gaius. "Did you expect people to congratulate you on your math skills?" Matthew tells him, "I thought you were here to protect me." Gaius informs him coldly he is there to protect the money and orders Matthew to get back to work. Matthew tries to, but objects, "This is disgusting!" "Then get new clothes," says Gaius. "You can afford nice ones now. It is all part of the bargain, Matthew: You lose friends, but you gain money."
Matthew tells him honestly, "I don't have friends." Gaius tells him that's even better because he only gains and doesn't lose anything. He asks, "Do you have a wife." Matthew responds, "No. You?" Gaius tells him, "Yes, a wife, a son, and a servant boy." Matthew asks him, "Now that I will have money, should I also hire a servant boy?" Gaius says uncomfortably, "Well, we did not exactly hire him. It is a long story. Don't ask questions about my personal life. It is unprofessional." Matthew counters, "You asked if I was married." Gaius says, "I get to ask whatever I want."
A customer plunks tax money on the counter and tells Matthew in a menacing voice, "I'm going to be watching for you when you get out of work." Gaius orders forcefully, "No threats. Move along, Rat." He tells the next person in line to wait and addresses Matthew face to face in front of the bars at the counter. "Listen up: You don't look like you've been in many fist fights. The last Jew who defected and took this job got his teeth knocked out by a fisherman on his way home the first day. Look, I do not care if you get beaten to death by your Jewish brethren, if you die in your sleep, or if somebody chases you down on a horse. You get the point?" Matthew nods, frowning. Gaius continues: "But if something happens to you while you are working, Quintus (the Roman praetor) will punish me by making me do your job until he finds a replacement. I don't like sitting and I do not like math. That's why I soldier. Soldier good, get it?"
Matthew suggests, "Then maybe you should escort me home for protection?" Gaius shakes his head, saying, "Not part of my job." Matthew looks worried. Gaius notices and tells him, "What you're going to do with your newly acquired salary is hire a driver who can smuggle you back and forth from work in a cart, hidden like cargo. In fact, I've already arranged for him to pick you up at the end of your shift today."
Gaius moves aside and orders the next customer to step up to the booth. When there's a lull in business, Matthew calls out tentatively, "Gaius? Thank you for the driver." Gaius tells him, "I'm looking out for my interests, not yours. I'm no hero." Matthew confesses, "I understand how to do a job like this, but there are a lot of things in this world that I do not understand no matter how hard I try, and for some reason, people don't explain it to me because they think I'm different. I think there's something wrong with me." "You're right about that," says Gaius. "Look, I will tell you what I see, but I promise nothing." Later, Gaius would see much when Jesus entered their lives that would lead to a growing respect for Matthew, the other apostles, and even saving faith in Jesus Himself. Back in the present, Matthew thinks gratefully about how much changed in their lives for the better before continuing his journey to the Upper Room.
Little James, also on his way to the Passover location, stops to listen to an outside temple choir singing a song based on Psalm 113: "Who is like the Lord our God? What idol has more worth? No command has proved unsure in heaven and on earth. The hand of God, both great and small, a shelter, staff, and shield. Blessed be, great God of love, in day and night revealed." Part way through, Little James travels in his mind to when he was singing that very song with his graduating class over 3 years ago.
When the students finish singing, their teacher praises them: "You all will make fine cantors in the synagogues of Israel." At his desk the students line up to receive their certificates. Each person gives the city name of where he wishes to serve, and the teacher writes it on the certificate he hands out. When it is Little James's turn, the teacher says, "James, let me guess: Maybe someplace small, Nazareth or Bethsaida?" James answers proudly, "Jerusalem." "Very funny," says the teacher. "Cana, Magdala—there are a lot of open positions in the north."
James explains with a shining face, "I told you Jerusalem. I'm going to join the 288, the temple choir" (1 Chronicles 25:7). The teacher responds in a serious voice, "James, step over here for a moment." He pulls out a Torah scroll, but before opening it, says, "You have a very fine voice, young James, and I'm proud to have been your teacher." "So what's the problem?" asks James. The teacher opens the scroll and instructs him to read this from the Third Book of Moses, Leviticus 21:18: "For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has ... a limb too long."
James correctly points out those are rules only for the Levitical priests, the tribe of Moses's brother, Aaron, the first anointed priest. The teacher, however, informs him, "I know, but in time, they have been extended to any man serving in ritual temple services visible to the public." James, who has an elongated limb and pronounced limp, says, "Okay, so I will stand in the back of the choir. No one will even notice." The teacher replies, "Sorry, James: The Levite choir director has a very strict policy for the appearance of his singers. He will assume you or your parents must have sinned because you were born with this," reflecting a wrong idea Jesus Himself would soon confront (John 9), along with man-made traditions undermining Scripture.
James stammers, "Once he hears me sing, he will make an exception. This is my calling." The teacher, trying to be understanding, suggests, "I'll put down Bethany. It's so close to Jerusalem—close enough, my boy. Take what you can get." "No!" James decides, adding, "I don't need your certificate. I'll go to Jerusalem and sing for him myself." As he leaves, the teacher calls out behind him, "James, be realistic. I don't want you to travel all the way to Jerusalem only to have your dreams crushed!"
Later on his way, James tries to bed down for the night outdoors, but is unsuccessful in lighting a camp fire to keep himself warm. After several tries, he lies down shivering.
In a little while he hears someone approaching. Getting up suddenly, he says, "I don't have any money." The man quickly says, "It's okay. I'm not trying to rob you. Thank God, I was so worried you were a dead body by the side of the road! My Rabbi and I were passing by. It's cold. You shouldn't be sleeping on the ground without a fire or shelter." The Rabbi, carrying a torch, waves hello as he approaches.
"Where are you going?" asks the kind man. "Jerusalem," says James. The Rabbi now speaks: "Jerusalem? You've got a long way to go." James says suspiciously, "Yeah, what's it to you?" The kind man asks his name. When learning it, the Rabbi says, "First things first, James," and starts a camp fire where James tried. He asks James, "Mind if I sit?" James says sure, so both men sit on either side of him. The Rabbi says to James, "I would love to hear your story."
James looks at them wonderingly and asks, "Are you angels?" They both say no. The kind man adds that they are craftsmen. James begins telling them about his reason for going to Jerusalem. (The Rabbi is Jesus and the kind man is Thaddaeus. The story of how those two met is in the next episode.) James returns in his mind to where he is now, listening to the choir he so ardently wanted to join. He is feeling thankful for his calling as one of Jesus's earliest disciples, and now heads toward joining them for their Last Supper together.
Later, when Little James and all the others, minus Jesus and Thaddaeus, have met in the Upper Room, they are either seated or pacing about impatiently. John and Big James see 3 Roman soldiers walking toward the house, but are relieved when they pass by. That makes the others more jittery and worried that something went wrong, like Thaddaeus getting lost. "Who says he's lost?" asks Little James. Big James says, "Maybe Thaddaeus didn't want to leave without Jesus." Zee states, "I should have stayed back, followed Jesus at a distance, and kept an eye out." Peter says, "Maybe that's exactly what Thaddaeus is doing. Never underestimate that kid."
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